Juche

Igori Gorbunov
Member,
Russian Association for the Study of the Juche Idea

In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, the DPRK remained one and only genuine socialist country in the world. Leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il of people’s Korea made correct analysis of collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist camp as a whole and its cause and advanced a new revolutionary line for the socialist construction in the Pyongyang Declaration in 1992. For the times and the cause of socialism, the declaration became the one that was fitting to worship in the grave period when socialism was persecuted in the world and Russian president Boris Yeltzin praised the US on the platform of the US Congress.

70 political parties signed the Pyongyang Declaration in 1992. In 2017 about 300 political parties signed the declaration.

Today, I would like to make analysis of the most important passages of the declaration and the revolutionary line of the DPRK that made public the declaration.

From the mid-1980s, the DPRK leadership correctly saw through that the Soviet Union began to be off the rail of socialism. The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung had already pointed out in the 1960s that the Soviet Union leadership headed by Khrushchev was going over to revisionism.

In the early 1990s, very complicated situation was created owing to the aftereffects of catastrophic reform in the Soviet Union and the collapse of the socialist camp. Comrade Kim Il Sung was not indifferent to the destiny of the world socialist gains.

In 1992, socialism collapsed in many countries of the world. There was a big shock in the Soviet Union. The socialist system collapsed and a fearful capitalist monster grew up. People’s Korea remained alone in encirclement of the enemy.

1992 was the year which greeted the 80^th birth anniversary of Comrade Kim Il Sung. During this period, Comrade Kim Il Sung met several political activists from other countries more frequently than before. Collapse of socialist system caused mental agitation and disorder among many people, political parties and movements. In the talk with the delegation of the Socialist Workers’ Party of the United States in 1990, Comrade Kim Il Sung noted that imperialism intensified pressure, expressing his concern that the socialist camp and world socialism got decayed and ruined gradually. He said that the DPRK kept adhering to the principle of independence unlike other countries who joined the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance).

In the talk with a delegation of the Communist Party of Portugal (early in July 1991), the answers to the questions raised by a delegation of journalists of Washington Times from the United States (April 1992) and many other works, Comrade Kim Il Sung clarified principled issues related to restoration of the socialist movement and progress of the socialist cause.

In regard to the reason of collapse of socialism, Comrade Kim Il Sung said.

“There are several reasons for the frustration of socialism in some countries, but it was caused above all by the fact that these countries failed to adhere to the basic principle of socialism.”

Chairman Kim Jong Il made public a bulky and valuable work related to the reconstruction of socialism The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our Party on January 3, 1992. In the work, the Chairman explained the urgent problems related to the world socialist movement including the cause of frustration of socialism in some countries, the lesson drawn from it and the general line to be maintained consistently by the parties building socialism.

As the only country faithful to the ideals of socialism and aware of its responsibility assumed before the world socialist movement, the DPRK made public the Pyongyang Declaration on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Comrade Kim Il Sung. The declaration becomes an example of the Juche-oriented socio-political ideology as it reflects main principles of the Juche idea.

The passage, specified in the declaration, that ours is the era of independence and the cause of socialism is the sacred cause for independence of the popular masses, enables us to be aware how important the building of a genuine socialist party with the independent stand is. Cause of independence ran through the existence of the DPRK and the activities made by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung in his whole life. Independence is the most important factor that enabled the DPRK to bring about development with success in the whole period of the latter half of the 20^th century and stand bravely the frustration of the socialist system in the whole world.

The passage, specified in the declaration, that each party must formulate all lines and policies in keeping with its actual conditions and demand of its people and rely on them to implement the lines and policies, clarifies that the socialist parties of the world must make consideration of their actual conditions and economic and cultural features and rely on their people.

Socialist society is, in essence, a genuine people’s society where the people are the masters of everything and everything serves them. It reflects the principle of the Juche idea, that is, the principle related to the position and role of man in society. Placing man above others, the Juche idea clarified that man is the master of everything and decides everything.

We analyzed the most important and urgent aspects of the Pyongyang Declaration. The declaration reflected the revolutionary line of the DPRK. After the frustration of socialism in the world, people’s Korea demonstrated its loyalty to the socialist ideals such as the opposing exploitation of man by man, the social ownership of means of production and the building of a classless society. The declaration reflected the most important aspects of the Juche idea including the independence, the role of man as master of everything and the national liberation which is the first and foremost task for socialist parties. This proves that the line which the DPRK maintained after collapse of the Soviet Union serves as a revolutionary line, indeed.

Important role of the Pyongyang Declaration is that it united and reorganized 70 political parties in different countries of the world and encouraged them to the gigantic struggle against world imperialism, for the first time.

It is foolish to judge the Juche idea as a national idea of the DPRK. The Juche idea is an idea of independence.